Stalemate
by Heisuke
Summary: [AU] [Various pairings AxM KxK etc.] [No OCs] A federal agent arrives in a small town to help investigate the murder of a young girl. Who to trust, since no one is who they appear to be?
1. Chapter I

**A/N:** While some of you may recognize the whole "federal agent goes to a small town to help investigate a murder" thing from the (quite old) TV show _Twin Peaks_, others may not know what I'm talking about. For the ones who do, I assure you that the similarities end there, as this story will evolve in totally different directions. This is an Alternate Universe (AU) fic, set in modern times.

One more thing: English is only my second language, so you _might_ (even though I'm trying my best) find some grammar or spelling mistakes in my writings, although very sporadic. But it's probably not so bad, so why not read it? ;)

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Rurouni Kenshin. Surprising, no?

* * *

Aoshi Shinomori stared in dismay at the main street of the small and dull town of Toba. It seemed almost impossible that such a gruesome murder had taken place in the woods surrounding the city and that the victim, a 22-year-old girl, had shopped in the supermarket around the corner, had a cup of coffee at the restaurant nearby, not even two days ago. 

Now she was dead and had undoubtedly left many who had once known her crying for her permanent absence. Aoshi had never even seen her face, but he always regretted that such young lives had to leave the world of the living so very soon, maybe in reminiscence of the years we had so foolishly thrown away by getting involved in not-so-appropriate situations.

He shook his head. This was not the time nor the place to be thinking such things. _«Not now, not ever...»_ he added in thought. The local chief of police was probably waiting for him at the police station (and he had no idea where it might be located) and, looking at his wrist watch, he noted he was half an hour late. The chief of police would surely be furious... but he really didn't care. Brushing away the strands of shiny black hair that insisted on falling in his eyes, he set out to find the police station. _«Seeing this town, it probably might be a wooden shack somewhere»_ Aoshi thought, smirking.

**XxXxXxX**

At last Aoshi was able to find the police station; it wasn't far from the place where he had been contemplating both the town and his own thoughts. The chief of police, a man in his mid-thirties, amazingly tall and broad-shouldered and with a menacing glint in his amber eyes was waiting for him at the door.

"Shinomori, that's you, right?" he asked, blowing the smoke of the cigarette he was smoking in Aoshi's face.

"Yes." he curtly answered, obviously displeased by the manners (or lack thereof) of that small town cop. "And you are...?"

The man's lips curled in a sarcastic smirk. "Saitou. Hajime Saitou. Chief of Police of this town in the middle of nowhere."

"Federal agent Aoshi Shinomori, from Kyoto..."

Saitou promptly cut him off, raising his hand.

"Stop. I already know. Or do you think we don't have phones around here?"

Aoshi's cold blue eyes shot him a dangerous look. Whom did that idiot think he was talking to? One of his underlings?

"I'm counting on your full cooperation on this case." Aoshi declared in a threatening tone. "I was hoping you'd show more consideration to a _colleague _who's here to help you."

"_Help me_? You must be joking. I didn't ask for anyone's help, much less yours. I want to make it very clear," Saitou pointed, almost piercing through Aoshi's eyes with his finger. "that your _help_, as you so merrily call it, is not welcome at all. For me, this is more like a certificate of incompetence with my name written on it."

"Certificate of incompetence? Well, they must have their reasons." Aoshi smiled mischievously, glad that Saitou had given him such a good pretext to laugh at his expenses. Any thoughts related to cooperation between both sides were immediately abandoned.

"Ouch! If looks could kill..."

Both men looked in the direction the voice was coming from and saw a young man around twenty years old, tall and a bit on the thin side, brunette and with a haircut too gravity-defying to be considered normal.

"Don't tell me you're that agent from Kyoto!" he exclaimed. "Saitou here has been complaining all the time since the moment he heard you were coming."

"The _agent_ has a name." Aoshi calmly stated, but not without giving his voice a somewhat gelid touch. "For you and your _boss_, it's Shinomori-san."

The boy seemed to take it lightly and, with a broad smile, he pointed to himself.

"My name's Sanosuke Sagara and this is my first case! That is, if the 'murder' of old Ogata-san's cat last week doesn't count."

"Do me a favour and shut up... _ahou_." Saitou growled, giving him a murderous look.

Sanosuke did not appear to be the type of guy to just hear Saitou's insults and remain quiet, but surely his curiosity to know further details concerning the case had gotten the better of him, seeing as he followed them to Saitou's office without protesting.

Aoshi sat in the comfortable leather sofa near the only window in Saitou's office. The ill-humoured policeman tossed him the briefcase containing all the information pertaining to the case as well as some pictures of the body, obviously aiming at his head. Aoshi glanced briefly at him before opening it. He examined the pictures as Saitou lit yet another cigarette and Sanosuke sat on the desk, earning a dirty look from the smoking policeman.

"Tomoe Himura, born Yukishiro." Aoshi whispered to himself, going through the victim's personal data. Letting his eyes linger on the pictures of the pale and naked corpse, he regretted once more that so many people had to die like that. Tomoe's long black hair contrasted dismally with her almost impossibly white skin. The blood that stained her had been partially washed away by the water of the shallow creek by which she had been found. Multiple cuts and stab wounds gave away the cause of death.

"Raped?" Aoshi asked Saitou.

"Probably yes." he answered, his face hidden behind a thick cloud of smoke. "However, we can't be sure."

"What do you mean? You ran an autopsy, I presume?"

"Once again, I am forced to remind you that, even though this looks like the end of the world, in reality it isn't. _Of course_ we have a coroner and _of course_ we ran an autopsy."

"So? What seems to be the problem?"

"Her husband, Kenshin Himura, has locked himself up in his house since he found out about his wife's death. When we went to question him he didn't even utter a single word. Either he's in shock or he went completely mad. We cannot prove that the traces we found on the body belong to the killer and possible rapist. They could as well be Himura's."

"I'll have to talk to this Kenshin Himura. Where does he live?"

"Did I not make myself clear? The man won't talk to anyone, much less to someone he doesn't know."

"Even so, I have to talk to him. Will you take me there or must I find the way for myself?"

"So be it." Saitou sighed. "I'm not in the mood for arguing, and not with you of all people."

"Damn right, because _I_ am here for that!" Sanosuke suddenly barked. "Or have you forgotten we still have a score to settle in combat?"

Aoshi stared at them, cursing the lack of professionalism and general inefficiency of those two, who even discussed about becoming each other's punching bags during work hours. Now that he noticed, the kid looked too young to be a police officer; it was something he'd have to ask Saitou about once he had interrogated Kenshin Himura.

"Can we go now?" he asked, looking bored, after he got tired of watching Saitou and Sanosuke verbally abuse each other.

**XxXxXxX**

The three men stopped in front of a well-kept dojo that Saitou said belonged to Himura.

"A dojo?" Aoshi murmured.

"Yeah, the Himuras, husband and wife, taught kendo to the kids here in town. They all got along pretty well." Sanosuke informed him. "Sometimes I even came here uninvited to eat my meals... since the salary I get from Saitou makes it impossible for me to eat in a restaurant."

"Have you tried to cook, rooster-head?" Saitou retorted.

Sanosuke showed him the finger and Saitou retaliated by blowing the smoke of his ever-present cigarette in his face. Aoshi had to prevent himself from smiling once he recognized the pattern in Saitou's 'attacks': blowing smoke in other people's faces and, who knows, some day later offer them a lung cancer as a present.

Saitou slid the rice-paper door open.

"Err..." Sanosuke started hesitantly. "Shouldn't we knock first?"

Saitou didn't share his opinion and got in without further ado, followed by Aoshi. As he squinted to get his eyes used to the darkness inside the dojo he managed to catch a glimpse of a man sitting on the floor in a corner, leaning against the wall with his head between his knees. He was holding a sheathed katana and sat completely motionless. He did not budge an inch, not even when Saitou and Aoshi stopped right in front of him. Aoshi could now see that this mysterious man's long hair was of a flaming red, something he had never seen before. A cross-shaped scar marred his left cheek, partially hidden by some unkempt red strands.

"Himura!" Saitou called. "We want to talk to you."

Kenshin Himura raised his head slightly but his strangely void eyes gave no assurance that he was listening.

"We want to talk to you about your wife... Tomoe-san." Aoshi said softly.

"Tomoe..." Kenshin whispered. "She..."

Saitou and Aoshi had their eyes focused hard on him, expectant. Sanosuke joined them then, sad beyond words at seeing Kenshin like that, a mere shadow of what he had once been.

"It's my fault." Kenshin declared, lowering his head. "I'm tired... I want to sleep, but I can't close my eyes without seeing her..."

Saitou made an impacient sound. _«This man isn't making any sense. Why are we here wasting our time?»_

Kenshin rose slowly.

"Can I see her?" he asked in a strangled voice.

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**A/N: **Like it? Hate it? Want more chapters? Your opinion is important! 


	2. Chapter II

**A/N:** Thank you, **gabyhyatt** and **lt.soniablade**, for your encouraging reviews. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Rurouni Kenshin.

* * *

The coroner pulled the white sheet away from Tomoe's body in a quick and calculated gesture. She too felt Kenshin's pain when her eyes focused on the lifeless body of the girl everyone had loved. Strangely, the redhead showed no feeling, anger or sadness. He was simply apathetic, far, far away from everything and everyone. It was almost surreal seeing him like that, he who would always spare a kind word and a warm smile to anyone he met on the street. 

Megumi Takani swallowed her tears and slid the sheet over Tomoe, mercifully blocking the sight of his dead wife. She turned to Saitou and Aoshi, who were expecting some kind of reaction from Kenshin (which never came) on the background. Sanosuke had decided earlier that he would wait outside the small hospital, saying he would only enter a hospital if he were either dead or almost dying.

"What now?" the doctor asked both policemen glancing sideways at Kenshin, who was motionless staring fixedly at the sheet hiding Tomoe from view.

"Now, to the station." Saitou answered her visibly annoyed, certainly suffering already from the lack of smoking imposed to him by Megumi a little earlier. _«Don't even think of smoking here, Saitou-san!»_, which he had promptly answered: _«Are you an idiot or what? Do you think the dead will mind?»_. "We still have to interrogate Himura and, if he still won't answer our questions, throw him into prison as a murder suspect."

Aoshi looked at Saitou as if he had suddenly gone completely mad. "I think you're getting ahead of yourself, _Saitou-san_. What proof do you have?"

"And to you, _Shinomori-san_, I ask you to shut up. I represent the authority here and I've told you before that your help isn't needed."

"I'll come." Kenshin declared. "I want to help with the investigation... and find out who did this to Tomoe. And more importantly, _why_."

"Finally woke up, did you Himura? About time too." Saitou mocked him.

"Shall we, Himura-san?" Aoshi asked softly, to which Kenshin replied with a curt nod. "Thank you for your help, Takani-san." the agent added.

"You can call me Megumi, everytime someone calls me Takani-san I glance around looking for my father..." she laughed a little, albeit emotionlessly.

Aoshi nodded and left without further words or even a smile. Megumi contemplated the way the coldness he seemed to carry within himself accompanied him in every step he took.

**XxXxXxX**

The interrogation went normally enough, aside from some harsh words from Saitou, but that was to be expected. At last they could establish with a certain degree of certainty that Tomoe had indeed been raped. That fact brought a whole new dimension to the case, as Sanosuke had so well put it...

"Then it must be some pervert! Strange... I don't know any perverts around here."

"You know, that's not something people usually write on their foreheads, _ahou_."

"Don't start!" Sano warned, shaking a fist in front of Saitou's face.

Kenshin was sitting in a chair staring at the void, but seemed to wake from his stupor at that moment. "Will there be anything else?" he asked Aoshi, since the other two were apparently too busy arguing with each other. "The afternoon lessons at the dojo start in a few minutes. The kids are counting on me..."

"Yes, you may go. We'll contact you if we have further questions."

Kenshin nodded slightly, thanking him and silently leaving through the door. Aoshi sighed and coughed to get the attention of Saitou and Sanosuke.

"It would be best" he started. "to start questioning the people most close to the victim. Friends, family, everyone."

Saitou turned to Sanosuke. "Shinomori is right, you can handle that."

"Handle what? I'm not your minion!"

"I'm sorry to disappoint you but, as long as I pay you a salary, then _yes_, you are one of my minions."

Sanosuke growled under his breath but acquiesced. "Alright. Who do you want me to bring?"

"Let's see... for now, Kaoru Kamiya and Misao Makimachi, who used to help at the dojo. We'll talk to their students later. Bring those two."

After Sanosuke left the office, Aoshi finally spoke. "What can you tell me about those girls?"

"Not much. I don't make it my hobby to hang around with kids."

"Please, be serious for once." the agent asked, looking tired.

"Seeing as you ask so kindly... I believe they're both around 18 years old, perhaps a little less, since they are still in high-school. They were students at the dojo for some years and now they help train the younger kids. Makimachi works at the restaurant nearby and I think Kamiya doesn't have a job. Is this enough?"

"Almost. What about the relationship between them and the Himuras?"

"Good, as far as I know. Everyone seemed to get along with them. It's hard to have something against people who were always smiling happily and being kind to everyone."

"Obviously, it's going to be hard to see that again from now on."

"Obviously." Saitou agreed, lighting a cigarette.

**XxXxXxX**

"I brought Misao, Saitou. I went to Kaoru's place but no one answered the door." Sanosuke announced after a while. "Can I send her in?"

Saitou nodded, staring at the short girl with extremely long black hair in a braid and huge eyes which gave away her uneasiness. She looked up at Aoshi, whom she did not know yet. Like Megumi, she literally shivered, intimidated by his hard and cold look.

"Shinomori, want to do the honors?"

Aoshi prepared to conduct the interrogation by himself, since Saitou had so _kindly_ allowed him to.

"Name, age and address for the record, please, Makimachi-san."

"Misao." Aoshi glanced at her with an inquisitive gleam in his eyes. The girl blushed hard. "Hum... I meant to say you can call me Misao. I'm 16 years old, almost 17." She cursed herself and had to refrain from banging her head against a wall. _«Why am I acting as a silly schoolgirl? As if he cared I'm about to turn 17...»_. "Err... I live above the restaurant just around the corner with my grandfather. He owns it. I also work there when I'm not at school."

Aoshi nodded while he took notes. It was the second time that day that someone of the opposite sex asked him to call them by their first names. It was beggining to bother him.

"Maybe I'm not supposed to ask this, but..." Misao hesitated. "Can you tell me what's going on? Why am I here? No one told me anything..."

Saitou crushed his cigarette on an ashtray already too full and unkindly declared: "Tomoe Himura was raped and murdered. Or vice versa, depending on the degree of perversion of the killer."

Aoshi shot him a furious glance. _«Did he really need to say it like that?»_

"Tomoe.. mudered? What are you saying...? But... how?"

"Misao, are you okay?" Sanosuke asked, feeling worried and a bit nervous at her reaction. "Can I get you a glass of water?"

The girl shook off Sano's hand that was patting her on the back. "No, thank you. Murdered? How is that possible? The day before yesterday we..." Misao interrupted herself, all they had been telling her finally sinking in. Her eyes filled with tears as she whispered unintelligible words.

"Perhaps we should continue this later." Aoshi rose from his seat and was about to open the door when it burst open abruptly, almost hitting his face in the process. It was another police officer, one with a haircut resembling a broom made of yellow straw. He was panting hard and seemed unable to speak, clinging to the door handle to prevent himself from sliding to the floor.

"Is all this dramatic acting really necessary, Chou?" Saitou asked the man, once again wrapped in a cloud of smoke.

"It's... Kaoru Kamiya... We found her... wandering near... the abandoned railroad track... She was attacked... apparently by the same man!"

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**A/N:** Reviews are appreciated ;P 


	3. Chapter III

**A/N:** Sorry for not updating in... some days? I urgently needed to get some work done ;P

**sRoze:** Reviews like yours are what keeps me going. Thank you so much!

**Baby-Fire-666:** Thanks! I'm glad you like it. I hope you keep reading!

**becky: **Oh, but cliffies are so much fun, don't you think? ;)

**erica6060:** What can I say? I like to make the characters suffer... :evil grin:

**Disclaimer:** This is boring. I don't own RK. Maybe I wouldn't be writing this if I did.

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In a large hospital room, the spotless white walls reflecting the harsh daylight coming through the window contrasted painfully with the dark and gloomy mood emanating from Saitou and Aoshi, who stood silently by the door, both staring in the direction of the only bed in the room.

"When can we talk to her?" Aoshi asked the doctor, emotionless as always.

"She's sedated now, I'm afraid you'll have to wait..."

On the bed lay Kaoru Kamiya, who hadn't regained consciousness since she had been found, two days before. Even though she only sustained minor injuries, Kaoru had been unable to articulate more than a few words which made no sense whatsoever. Now, the medication had given her face, pale and framed by silky long black hair, so like Tomoe's, a false look of stillness and calm.

"This case turns out to be much more complicated than it looked at first." Saitou finally admitted. "It has grown to proportions never seen in this town."

"Are you saying you might need my help after all?" Aoshi maliciously asked, without hint of a smile.

"Nonsense. I said no such thing." Saitou smiled almost ferociously, looking more like a wolf than ever. "The way I see it, it's a challenge. A test, nothing more. The harder it is... the bigger the reward."

"Reward?" Aoshi was starting to think the chief of police had finally lost his mind.

"One can easily see you're not in this for fun. Maybe your father was a policeman and you wanted to follow in his footsteps. How touching." The amber-eyed wolf glanced at him sideways, provoking him with a disdainful smirk. "But _I_ am in it for fun. _Aku. Soku. Zan._ That's my reward."

_«The man went completely mad. If there are people who shouldn't be carrying a gun, he's one of them.»_

"What's on your mind, Shinomori?"

"Nothing." he lied. "It's just that, if she doesn't wake up soon..."

Aoshi couldn't finish his sentence because he was interrupted by the sound of the door opening. It was Kenshin Himura.

"Himura, how nice of you to drop by." Saitou observed with a mocking gleam in his eyes. "What do you want?"

But Kenshin wasn't listening; instead, he was concentrating on the thin frame under the sheets.

"How is she?" he asked Aoshi, somehow managing to ignore the smoking policeman.

"Fine, under the circumstances, but still in shock. We weren't able to question her yet."

"Then, I suppose you have nothing that could lead us to the killer...?"

"I'm sorry, Himura-san, but no."

Kenshin sighed, pulled up a chair and sat near the bed.

"Himura, what do you think you're doing?" Saitou growled.

"I'm staying with her." the redhead whispered, not looking him in the eye. "When she wakes up, she might say something about the man who attacked her. I want to be the first to know..."

"And what for?" Saitou cut him off, his eyes flashing dangerously. "To do justice by your own hands? If that be the case, please do. I'll certainly enjoy throwing you into jail, where you truly belong."

All the bitterness and animosity contained in Saitou's words did not go completely unnoticed to Aoshi. There was surely something in their past that had driven them apart and made them fierce enemies. He couldn't quite place his finger on it, but perhaps soon... _«It won't be long until that, whatever it might be, reveals itself to me willingly. And when that happens, it might end in disgrace... for one of them or both.»_

**XxXxXxX**

Later that day, at the station, Sanosuke did his best to talk Saitou into giving him information on Kaoru.

"Are you going to shut up?"

"Come on, tell me! Did you talk to her? I have the right to know! I'm working on the case too!"

"That could change... Chou can take your place anytime. Even though he's as idiot as you are, at least his voice isn't as jarring.

"What!" taking notice of Saitou's murderous look, Sanosuke found it best to give up, but not before he stuck his tongue out at the older man. His childish attitude made Aoshi wonder, once again, if the boy wasn't too young for the job. He was about to bring up that subject when Chou entered the room.

"There's a kid here saying he's a student of Himura's. He wants to talk to you about the case. Should I send him in?" he announced.

"No, better send him away. I'm in no mood to put up with kids right now." Saitou replied, searching all his pockets for a pack of cigarettes.

"Who were you going to send away?" a voice coming from near the floor asked.

Everyone looked down and saw a boy of about ten, dragging his way inside the room between Chou's legs. At first, one could only see his dark spiked hair and the shinai he carried strapped to his back, but then the short kid rose to his feet and they could finally see his face, lit up by a challenging smile.

"You were going to send me home without hearing what I have to say?"

"Yahiko! You were supposed to wait outside!" Sanosuke scolded.

"What, this _brat_ is with you?" Saitou asked, deliberately flicking the ash from his cigarette in Sanosuke's direction.

"No! I mean... I promised I'd take him to the dojo after I got some information out of you."

"I see."

Yahiko turned to Aoshi. "Are you that federal-agent-guy?"

Aoshi cursed his bad luck. Everyone systematically disrespected him ever since he had arrived in that town; even this kid talked to him as if they were childhood friends. He urgently needed a coffee and an aspirin. "Yes, I am." he finally answered, rubbing his forehead, mentally commanding the dull ache to go away. "What did you want to tell us?"

Yahiko straightened up his back and assumed a previously rehearsed pose. He cleared his throat and began. "You might not know this, but Kaoru went looking for Tomoe after she had been missing for a day. She said she'd come back to give the afternoon lessons but she never showed up. We never saw them again after that... that is, until now."

Saitou just kept smoking as if he were paying no attention to Yahiko's ramblings but, in fact, he was more interested in them than anyone else. Perhaps the kid wasn't that useless after all...

"What about Himura-san? Why didn't he report them missing?"

"Kenshin is an airhead! He thought Tomoe had decided to run away because of a stupid fight they had. He was actually convinced he could find her himself, so we went to the woods and..." Yahiko didn't realise what he had just said had caught the others completely unaware. Not to mention Kenshin's credibility had gone down the drain. "What?" he asked, confused upon noticing the investigators' serious expressions.

"Nothing." Sanosuke assured him, gently pushing Yahiko to the door. "I'll take you to the dojo now, we're already late."

Right after they had left, Saitou turned to Aoshi. "It appears that Himura isn't quite what he seems..."

Aoshi rose from his chair and camly replied. "During a murder investigation, not very often people are who they appear to be and _no one_ tells the truth. You should know that."

He left the room to go for a cup of coffee to the Makimachi family's restaurant. His stay in that town seemed destined to prolong itself indefinitely and now was the time to take matters into his own hands. Misao would be the first and, when he was through with her, he expected her to tell him all she was willing to say and more.

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**A/N:** I love reviews! Who doesn't? ;D 


	4. Chapter IV

**A/N:** Since **sRoze** asked (:huggles sRoze: You don't have to learn Portuguese :D) and I seem to have finally finished all the work I had for spring break, here it is, chapter 4! Enjoy :)

**Disclaimer:** I don't own RK. I bet that surprised you ;P

* * *

Before entering the restaurant, Aoshi took the time to glance at the enormous sign above the door, announcing to the world the name Aoi-ya, as well as promising the "best food in town". He sighed as he pushed the door.

A bell chimed softly. The agent realised that his height, a little above average, had caused him to bump his head into a small wind chime hanging from the ceiling, by the door. He held it with his hand to make the annoying sound stop and partly because everyone in the restaurant was now staring at him fixedly, curiosity gleaming in their eyes.

The girl he had met some days before, Misao Makimachi, appeared at the sound of the bell, coming from the kitchen. She had thought a new client had just entered, only she didn't expect him to be Aoshi Shinomori, the mysterious man who made her nervous and unsure like no one else had managed so far.

"Er..." she murmured, hesitating a little. "Can I help you?"

"Yes. I'd like to talk to you, if that's possible, Makimachi-san."

"Misao." she insisted once more, beaming at him.

Aoshi nodded and followed Misao to a table in a secluded corner of the restaurant. They were aware of everyone's attention focused on them, but they preferred not to leave the Aoi-ya and go through the trouble of finding some other quiet place to talk. _«Besides, I could really use a cup of coffee.»_ Aoshi thought.

As if she had read his mind, the girl asked him if he wanted to have something to drink while they talked. He asked for a strong, black coffee, which was brought to him by an elderly man, white-haired and wearing a friendly expression, his beard tied up with a pink ribbon, making him look quite ridiculous. Aoshi took a sip and sighed contently. The town might not be the most interesting place in the planet and the people were surely not the nicest ones; but at least the coffee... they knew how to make it.

"It's my grandfather." Misao introduced the old man. "Jiya, this is the federal agent that came to help investigate Tomoe's death... Shinomori-san."

They shook hands and studied each other carefully for a few seconds. Even though the old man, at first sight, looked a bit strange and perverted (seeing as he didn't stop ogling the other waitresses), he possessed clear and inteligent eyes. _«One could almost say the eyes of a cop.»_ Aoshi mused. Perhaps the man had more to him than it seemed, like everyone he had met thus far.

"What was it that you wanted to talk to me about?" Misao inquired curiously, after her grandfather had left them to go harass the other two waitresses.

"It came to our knowledge recently that Himura-san and the victim had an argument. What can you tell me about it?"

Misao lowered her head to concentrate on her own hands, laid out in front of her on the table. "Not much, I'm afraid." She coughed slightly to mask the embarrassment written all over her voice. "I mean, practically nothing."

"Maki..." Aoshi started, stopping abruptly when he reminded himself to call her Misao, or the girl would change the subject back to the matter of her name. "... Misao. I want the truth. This kind of subterfuges may work with Toba's police department, but I'd rather not have to know from others the things _you_ should tell me."

"Alright, alright! I'll tell you." Misao gave in easily. "It all happened because of Tomoe's brother, I think."

"What's his name?" Aoshi had pulled a small notepad from his pocket and was now scribbling furiously.

"Enishi Yukishiro. I think he never liked the idea of his sister getting married and all... Anyway, a couple of months ago he showed up at the dojo. He and Himura got in a fight and almost killed each other, until Tomoe stepped in and managed to stop them. I never saw him again after that."

"If he didn't return, what was that argument between Himura-san and the victim about?"

Misao furrowed her brow, obviously displeased at Aoshi's words. "Why do you keep calling her 'the victim'? 'The victim' this, 'the victim' that... she had a name, you know?"

"Yes, I do. But let's not change the subject. Shall he continue?"

"I don't know if we should, because you are being a bit of an asshole!"

As soon as she realised what she had just said, Misao covered her mouth with both hands and blurted apologies. As for the inexpressive federal agent, he just kept staring at her as if nothing unusual had happened. The sound of the wind chime rescued them from the embarrassing silence that had fallen upon them. Misao glanced nervously at the door and waved to Megumi, who had just entered, inviting her to join them.

"Hello!" the doctor greeted them. "Shinomori-san, I didn't expect to find you here."

"I was just leaving." he declared in a steely voice, placing some coins on the table to pay for his coffee. "Makimachi-san, we'll continue this talk at the station. Later today, if that's possible."

Misao's usually careless and happy expression hardened when Aoshi reverted to a cold 'Makimachi-san'. She pushed the coins towards him and growled aggressively. "It's on the house, _Shinomori-san_."

After he had left, Misao rested her head on the table, apparently exhausted by the short exchange of words with the man. Megumi giggled and playfully tugged at her long braid. "What? Do you always get like this after seeing a handsome man like him?"

"It's not funny!" she retorted. "And he's not _that_ handsome!"

"Of course, of course" Megumi pretended to agree with a fuming Misao. "If you don't want him, can I keep him for myself?" she asked, her red lips curled in a malicious, albeit friendly smile.

"Sure, and I hope you have fun." Misao sighed. "I think it would be impossible for me to spend more than five minutes with him."

**XxXxXxX**

Aoshi stopped just outside the Aoi-ya. That hadn't gone too well; the girl, who at first had appeared too emotive and easy to manipulate, was very different from what he what predicted.

Once again, he sighed. He had been doing _that_ too often lately. He looked up at the sky, heavy with grey clouds, and for a moment he thought he had seen four very familiar faces. Aoshi closed his eyes quickly and shook his head. Remember them now and fill his heart with grief and anger at their fate wouldn't bring them back, no matter how much he wanted it.

_«I'm tired.»_ he admitted to himself, not realising he had used the same words as Kenshin, immersed in his pain. _«I don't know if I can go on...»_

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**A/N:** Please take the time to review if you've read this far ;) 


	5. Chapter V

**A/N:** I'm sorry this chapter took so long. My brain is currently working at a minimum level as I study for the dreadful Pre-History test next Tuesday. Wish me luck ;D

**sRoze:** Thank you so much for supporting me every step of the way :) Yep, the pervert is in fact Okina. Only Misao calls him Jiya, at least in the manga (I watched a dubbed version of the anime, so I can't be sure if the same happens there). Portuguese words are similar to their English counterparts basically if they have latin roots. Otherwise both languages are quite different from each other, unfortunately :( Oh, and don't worry, this is (among other things) a Kenshin x Kaoru fic. They'll get there... eventually. Heh ;P

**ObsidianRaven: **Thanks for reviewing! I hope you keep reading :)

**moshi moshi mother fucker:** First of all, nice nickname ;P I'm glad both you and your friends like my fic! Please keep reading and reviewing, make a depressed author happy ;D

**peaches:** Thank you! It's always nice to know I got someone hooked. I'll work on the surroundings, I promise ;) I do realise I tend to overlook those descriptions, and for that I am truly sorry _:glances around looking embarrassed:_

**Disclaimer:** Surprising as it may be, I own nothing.

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Aoshi waited patiently, lying on the bed in his small room at the Aoi-ya, for Saitou to come and get him so that both could go together to Tomoe Himura's funeral, which would take place in less than an hour. The previous night, before he had been chased away from the station by the obnoxious smoking policeman, he had managed to take hold of the file containing the details of the case, a bit fuller now than it had been by the time he had arrived in Toba. The agent had intended to go through it before going to bed, but he had ended up falling asleep after only two pages. 

Lifting his tired eyes from the carefully typed pages, Aoshi allowed his mind to wander freely but regretted it right that instant, for his evanescent thoughts focused immediately on one of the few things that still managed to bother him somehow: young Misao Makimachi. Even though he was currently living at the Aoi-ya, where he _knew_ she lived as well, he hadn't laid eyes on her since that last conversation they had had. Needless to say, the girl never showed up at the station like Aoshi had asked her to; perhaps that was what got him so upset even at the slightest mention of her. He wasn't used to being challenged or avoided, which, at the moment, seemed to be happening – both at the same time.

_«Maybe I'll be able to drag her to the station after the funeral.»_ he mused. That was, as a matter of fact, the only reason he had for going to the damn funeral, which certainly didn't concern him, of all people. He didn't belong in that town, as people were so eager to remind him.

Aoshi lowered his gaze back to the papers in his hands and sighed. He almost felt like voicing his train of thought, as he so often did in his cramped apartment in Kyoto whenever he had a particularly difficult case to solve; only it was always a good thing to remind himself the fact that he wasn't at home and that he'd probably be heard through the thin walls if he were to do such a thing... besides, the somber federal agent wasn't too thrilled at the perspective of being deemed lunatic by the villagers. Impatiently, he shut the briefcase with a snap and flung it on the nearby desk; that was when he noticed a fallen photo on the floor next to the bed, undoubtedly there since last night, due to his lack of will to return everything to its rightful place. He picked it up and leaned back on the pillows, studying it with redoubled attention. The unexplainable lack of pictures depicting the victim alone had forced Saitou to collect somewhat casual, more familiar ones like the photo Aoshi was holding. Tomoe and Kenshin were smiling widely and embracing each other, at the entrance of the dojo where they lived and taught kendo. Around them were Misao and Kaoru, the latter harassed by Sanosuke, who curiously had a long fishbone hanging precariously from his smirking lips. Sitting in front of the group was Yahiko, a devious smile twitching his soft features and a gleaming bladed katana in his small and fragile hands.

Perhaps the intimate display had aroused unwanted memories in him; perhaps he intimately regretted being so utterly alone; perhaps he blamed himself for pushing away all those who had once loved him or cared for him. He just couldn't bear to keep looking at the picture and put it away along with the rest of the papers.

Saitou would surely arrive soon; he should get ready for the funeral.

**XxXxXxXxX**

As the coffin made of light coloured, soft polished wood was slowly lowered into the deep pit, very few people cried. Saitou and Aoshi were the more indifferent ones: the former wouldn't stop smoking, as usual, and the latter let his eyes linger on each person around them in turn. Kenshin Himura kept staring fixedly at the coffin containing his wife's body, once filled with her young and careless soul. Misao's hands were clenched on Yahiko's shoulders. The boy looked almost apathetic in an inhumane effort to prevent himself from crying; Misao made no such attempt: she was one of the few people shedding copious tears. _Silently_...

"Why do you suppose no one seems awfully sad, Shinomori?" Saitou asked in a low, ironic tone.

"After so many days to get used to the idea, such a reaction was to be expected." Aoshi remarked. "The fact that it was a brutal murder leads people into directing their anger towards the assassin rather than crying for the deceased person."

"How elaborate." Saitou let out a discreet chuckle. "Aside from a federal agent, you're also a psychologist? You're really full of surprises."

Aoshi chose to ignore the sarcastic chief of police, who seemed to show as much respect towards the dead as he did towards his subordinates: none at all.

Sanosuke, standing motionless beside Kenshin, glanced at him with a murderous expression on his exhausted face.

"Are you two going to shut up anytime soon? This is a funeral!" he admonished.

"Thank you very much, you idiot." Saitou retorted. "I hadn't noticed."

The coffin had already been hidden from sight and the crowd started to slowly walk away. The three policemen followed shortly after, taking the route to the hospital, seeing as they still needed to question Kaoru Kamiya.

"Allow me to disagree with the remarkable psychological analysis you did back there." Saitou whispered, quite unexpectedly, in a way that only Aoshi could hear him. "If no one looked sad, it's probably because no one really was."

Without being able to grasp the meaning of Saitou's enigmatic statement, Aoshi stopped dead in his tracks at the hospital entrance, the smoking policeman staring at him dangerously. So far, all he had heard had made him believe that everyone liked the victim. Unless...

"That's right, Shinomori, very well. Unless they were lying." The chief of police completed his unfinished thought, pulling another cigarette from the half-empty pack, exactly as if he had read Aoshi's mind without apparent effort. "Or did you forget what you told me the other day? _«During a murder investigation, no one tells the truth_»?"

Without further words, Saitou pushed the white metallic door and entered the hospital, closely followed by Sanosuke, who was totally oblivious to the brief exchange of words between the two older men.

**XxXxXxXxX**

"How many times do I need to tell you I can't remember anything?" Kaoru argued, rendering fruitless all the attempts made by the policemen in order to interrogate her.

"Don't play dumb." Saitou threatened, though his tone did not show any sign of underlying aggressiveness. "You mean to convince us that, after all of this, you can't even remember the face of your assailant?"

"That's right." the girl confirmed.

Saitou made a sound of impacient disbelief but did not insist. Megumi, sitting beside Kaoru since they had arrived, rose to her feet and decided to speak. "It's called post-traumatic amnesia, Saitou-san. It is possible that, during the next few days, she can't remember what happened to her. In most of the cases, the victim's memory returns shortly after."

"Did someone request your opinion? Just keep to opening up dead bodies and seeing their insides and stay out of police affairs."

Megumi opened and closed her mouth several times, apparently trying to find the right words to apply to that particular situation. Giving up from searching for them, she strode towards Saitou with clenched fists. If that were a movie and Megumi a man, Aoshi was certain that she would be rolling up her sleeves and preparing herself for a violent gory scene.

"Takani-san, please calm yourself." he advised, stopping her furious march with an arm.

"And you want me to calm down! Didn't you hear what he..." she pointed to Saitou, gesturing widely with repulse. "... what he said?"

"Let's drop that subject." Sanosuke surprisingly acted as the voice of reason for the first time in his life. "We came here to question Kaoru, right?"

Abruptly reminded of the young girl's presence, all eyes converged on the lanky figure sitting on the bed. Kaoru stared back at them, her expression challenging, although somewhat embarrassed. "I promise that, when I remember what happened, you'll be the first to know. Happy?"

"That had better be true." Saitou walked slowly to the door. Placing his hand on the door-handle, he turned his head back to Kaoru. "Or things will start to look bad for you."

He left.

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**A/N:** Please, take pity on the poor author and review. 


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